Modern society has quickly adopted, and become reliant upon, handheld apparatuses for wireless communication. For example, cellular telephones continue to proliferate in the global marketplace due to technological improvements in both the communication quality and device functionality. These wireless communication apparatuses have become common for both personal and business use, allowing users to transmit and receive voice, text and graphical data from a multitude of geographic locations. The communication networks utilized by these apparatuses span different frequencies and cover different transmission distances, each having strengths desirable for various applications. Lately the apparatuses had been engaged with proximity area communications, for example the short-range wireless communications or near field communications etc.
Short-range wireless networks provide communication solutions that avoid some of the problems seen in large cellular networks. Bluetooth™ is an example of a short-range wireless technology quickly gaining acceptance in the marketplace. A 1 Mbps Bluetooth™ radio may transmit and receives data at a rate of 720 Kbps within a range of 10 meters, and may transmit up to 100 meters with additional power boosting. Enhanced data rate (EDR) technology also available may enable maximum asymmetric data rates of 1448 Kbps for a 2 Mbps connection and 2178 Kbps for a 3 Mbps connection. A user does not actively instigate a Bluetooth™ network. Instead, a plurality of devices within operating range of each other may automatically form a network group called a “piconet”. Any apparatus may promote itself to the master of the piconet, allowing it to control data exchanges with up to seven “active” slaves and 255 “parked” slaves. Active slaves exchange data based on the clock timing of the master. Parked slaves monitor a beacon signal in order to stay synchronized with the master. These apparatuses continually switch between various active communication and power saving modes in order to transmit data to other piconet members. In addition to Bluetooth™ other popular short-range wireless networks include WLAN (of which “Wi-Fi” local access points communicating in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standard, is an example), WUSB, UWB and ZigBee (802.15.4, 802.15.4a). All of these wireless mediums have features and advantages that make them appropriate for various applications.
In addition to the above, near field communications technologies, which can be considered for providing very short-range or near to touch communication technologies, have become more interesting lately for providing new use and functionality to wireless communication devices. An example of near field communications technologies comprise Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which already exists in various consumers applications from transportation and payment systems to various identification systems including implantable RFID tags. Near Field Communication (NFC), is yet another short-range wireless communication technology, which enables the exchange of data between devices over a short distance. The technology is based on RFID, which makes it compatible with the existing contactless infrastructure already in use for public transportation and payment. Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum is a non-profit industry association that promotes the use of NFC short-range wireless interaction in various consumer electronics, wireless devices and PCs. The NFC Forum supports implementation and standardization of NFC technology to make it easier to get information, easier to pay for goods and services, easier to use public transport, and easier to share data between devices.
A wireless apparatus, such as, for example a mobile phone may contain a NFC module or other type of near field communications module. Currently in order to make and use a near field communications application, one actually needs to install the application on the apparatus itself in order to parse and understand the data. Therefore the deployment of these applications can be problematic. Moreover, there are many embedded near field communications applications which might be problematic to use—for example a Secure Element payment application embedded in a smart card may require a specific user interface.
Currently communications operators are trying to build a control point in the smart card by attempting to lock in the handset functionality by adding layers of low-level control. Operators see various near field communication technologies, such as NFC strategically as an important piece in their future offerings. However, since the SIM card does not have a user interface, they cannot achieve the usability levels required for e.g. smart poster-type applications, where the user is directed to touch tags and receive services. A known solution is Java Midlets using JSR-257 and the SmartCard Web Server initiatives. However both known solutions are lacking in functionality. NFC Forum is also defining a WEB RTD, which is a standard which allows a full web site to be put on a smart card. However, this does not give any real interactivity.